214 FORTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES. 



through my own carelessness. When there is nothing 

 to do in the fields, the bees may be seen busily trying to 

 enter cracks about hives so small that there is no possi- 

 bility of their entering, and they are sharp to observe any 

 change. If, at such times, a fresh opening be left any- 

 where about a hive, it is sure to be discovered. An en- 

 trance at the top of brood-chamber, at the back end, may 

 be left open all the season without being disturbed by 

 robbers. But if it has been kept closed until a time when 

 robbers are troublesome, and then opened, whether it be 

 that the robbers are stirred up by seeing the change, or 

 whether the bees of the colony are not in the habit of 

 protecting themselves in that quarter, the robbers are 

 pretty sure to give the new entrance especial attention ; 

 and if the colony be not very strong there may be serious 

 trouble. 



STARTING ROBBING BY FEEDING. 



As feeding is done only in a time of scarcity, it is 

 one of the most common causes of robbing among care- 

 less bee-keepers. When general feeding is done with 

 Miller feeders, there is little danger, no matter what time 

 of day the work is done ; but if some weak colony is short 

 of stores, I try to be somewhat careful to do nothing 

 to attract especial attention to it. I have sometimes fed 

 at night, and so far as convenient prefer to feed late in 

 the day, but convenience does not always allow it. 



One time I found a colony at the close of the honey 

 harvest, by some means about at the point of starvation. 

 With more carelessness than was excusable, I gave them, 

 I think in the forenoon, two or three combs filled with 

 sugar syrup. Some time after, I happened to look to- 

 ward that end of the apiary and saw what looked like a 

 swarm. The bees had become excited over their new - 

 found stores ; the robber-bees had joined in and the bees 



